# 2024–25 CS Constantine season

The 2024–25 season, is CS Constantine's 29th season and the club's 14th consecutive season in the top flight of Algerian football. In addition to the domestic league, CS Constantine are participating in this season's editions of the Algerian Cup and the Confederation Cup. On June 27, 2024 The federal office approved the calendar for the 2024–25 Ligue 1 season with the aim of ending on May 31, 2025. The first round is scheduled for September 14, this delay is motivated both by an extended end of the 2023–24 season but also by the holding of early presidential elections which will take place on September 7, 2024. However, the Ligue de Football Professionnel decided to postpone the start of the Ligue 1 by a week, on September 21.

## Review
### Background

On June 29, 2024, CS Constantine has parted with its coach Abdelkader Amrani. The president of the club Abdelghani Gourari even affirmed that confidence had been renewed in the coach but it was he who did not want to continue. For his part, Amrani explains that he could not continue with players whose release he requested but whom the club kept. On July 6, 2024 CS Constantine changed president but it is still the same people who lead. SPA CS Constantine announced the appointment of Tahar Chelia as new president, replacing Abdelkader Gourari after two years in office. Moreover it is yet another former president from before the Sonatrach era who was appointed general director Fersadou. On July 19, Kheïreddine Madoui is back at the technical helm of the club as the new coach. Madoui was received at the club headquarters by the general director Yacine Fersadou.
On December 21, 2024, during the match against NC Magra, CS Constantine scored a goal in the 97th minute. Validated at first, the goal will be validated at first by the referee Lotfi Bekouassa in the absence of the VAR but after discussing with his assistant referee Adel Abane, he will change his decision to cancel it. The FAF therefore published a press release to announce the suspension of referee Boukouassa as well as Adel Abane and that it was handing over the file to the arbitration committee to decide on this matter. Boukouassa finally signals an offside position of the scorer, after consulting the images on a smartphone. For his part, the linesman had not raised his flag.

## Squad list

Players and squad numbers last updated on 14 June 2024. Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Position | Name | Date of Birth (Age) | Signed from |
| Goalkeepers ||||||
| 1 | GK | Kheireddine Boussouf | (1987-12-07)7 December 1987 (aged 36) | Paradou AC |
| 16 | GK | Zakaria Bouhalfaya | (1997-08-11)11 August 1997 (aged 27) | ES Sétif |
| 23 | GK | Abdelmalek Necir | (1992-09-06)6 September 1992 (aged 32) | NRB Teleghma |
| Defenders ||||||
| 4 | CB | Chahine Bellaouel | (2000-12-27)27 December 2000 (aged 23) | CA Bizertin |
| 8 | LB | Houari Baouche | (1995-12-24)24 December 1995 (aged 28) | USM Alger |
| 12 | RB | Oussama Meddahi | (1991-02-14)14 February 1991 (aged 33) | NA Hussein Dey |
| 17 | RB | Amir Belaili | (1991-02-10)10 February 1991 (aged 33) | AS Ain M'lila |
| 19 | CB | Chamseddine Derradji | (1992-04-15)15 April 1992 (aged 32) | NC Magra |
| 25 | CB | Miloud Rebiaï | (1993-12-12)12 December 1993 (aged 30) | CR Belouizdad |
| NA | CB | Mélo Ndiaye | (1994-11-23)23 November 1994 (aged 29) | Youssoufia Berrechid |
| NA | CB | Achraf Boudrama | (1996-05-25)25 May 1996 (aged 28) | CR Belouizdad |
| Midfielders ||||||
| 3 | MF | Salaheddine Harrari | (1998-06-09)9 June 1998 (aged 26) | HB Chelghoum Laïd |
| 6 | DM | Mohamed Benchaira | (1992-01-10)10 January 1992 (aged 32) | JS Kabylie |
| 7 | AM | Abdennour Belhocini | (1996-08-18)18 August 1996 (aged 28) | Club Africain |
| 10 | AM | Brahim Dib | (1993-07-06)6 July 1993 (aged 31) | AS Ain M'lila |
| 18 | DM | Messala Merbah | (1994-07-22)22 July 1994 (aged 30) | USM Alger |
| NA | AM | Feth-Allah Tahar | (1994-01-22)22 January 1994 (aged 30) | MC Alger |
| NA | DM | Salifou Tapsoba | (2002-10-19)19 October 2002 (aged 21) | ES Métlaoui |
| Forwards ||||||
| 9 | FW | Zakaria Benchaâ | (1997-06-12)12 June 1997 (aged 27) | Unattached |
| 11 | FW | Mounder Temine | (2001-09-15)15 September 2001 (aged 23) | Youth system |
| 13 | FW | Nkembe Enow | (1999-11-11)11 November 1999 (aged 24) | ES Sétif |
| 14 | FW | Axel Méyé | (1995-06-06)6 June 1995 (aged 28) | Al-Ahly SC |
| 21 | FW | Amine Benmessabih | (1996-01-02)2 January 1996 (aged 28) | JSM Tiaret |
| 26 | FW | Abdelkader Kaibou | (1997-09-12)12 September 1997 (aged 27) | MC Oujda |
| 27 | FW | Ahmed Khaldi | (1998-07-22)22 July 1998 (aged 26) | HB Chelghoum Laïd |
| NA | FW | Dadi El Hocine Mouaki | (1996-09-11)11 September 1996 (aged 28) | JS Kabylie |
| | ST | Tosin Omoyele | (1996-08-03)3 August 1996 (aged 28) | USM Khenchela |

## Transfers
### In
#### Summer

| Date | Pos | Player | Moving from | Fee |
| 18 July 2024 | FW | Tosin Omoyele | USM Khenchela | Free transfer |
| 20 July 2024 | FW | Dadi El Hocine Mouaki | JS Kabylie | Free transfer |
| 20 July 2024 | DF | Achraf Boudrama | CR Belouizdad | Free transfer |
| 21 August 2024 | CB | Mélo Ndiaye | Youssoufia Berrechid | Free transfer |
| 21 August 2024 | DM | Salifou Tapsoba | ES Métlaoui | Free transfer |
| 28 August 2024 | AM | Feth-Allah Tahar | MC Alger | Free transfer |

### Out
#### Summer

| Date | Pos | Player | Moving to | Fee |
| 4 July 2024 | DF | Mohamed Amine Madani | JS Kabylie | Free transfer |
| 9 July 2024 | DF | Nasreddine Zaalani | Al-Khaldiya SC | Free transfer |
| 28 July 2024 | MF | Hadji Chekal Affari | JS Kabylie | Free transfer |

## Competitions
### Overview

| Competition | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Started round | Final position / round | First match | Last match |
| Competition | G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | Started round | Final position / round | First match | Last match |
| Ligue 1 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 9 | +3 | 045.45 | — | To be confirmed | 27 September 2024 | In Progress |
| Algerian Cup | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 000.00 | Round of 64 | Round of 64 | 5 February 2025 | 5 February 2025 |
| Confederation Cup | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 2 | +8 | 100.00 | First round | To be confirmed | 17 August 2024 | In Progress |
| Total | 17 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 22 | 11 | +11 | 064.71 |
Updated to match played 8 December 2024 Source: Competitions

### Ligue 1
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 7 | JS Saoura | 19 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 20 | 23 | −3 | 25 |
| 8 | MC El Bayadh | 19 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 16 | 17 | −1 | 25 |
| 9 | CS Constantine | 19 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 18 | 17 | +1 | 26 |
| 10 | ES Sétif | 19 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 16 | 14 | +2 | 28 |
| 11 | USM Khenchela | 19 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 15 | 25 | −10 | 23 |
* 1 2 3 4 Ranked on head-to-head points: JS Saoura (9); MC El Bayadh (6); CS Constantine (3); ES Sétif (3) → CS Constantine (3); ES Sétif (0).

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 27 September 2024. Source: Competitive matches

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
| Ground | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H |
| Result | D | D | D | W | W | W | L | W | L | W | D | L | W | D | L | D | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Position | 8 | 11 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 5 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

#### Matches

The league fixtures were announced on 11 July 2024.
All times are local, WAT (UTC+1).
Win  Draw  Loss  Postponed

### Confederation Cup
#### Qualifying rounds

In the qualifying rounds, each tie will be played on a home-and-away two-legged basis. If the aggregate score will be tied after the second leg, the away goals rule was applied, and if still tied, extra time will not be played, and the penalty shoot-out will be used to determine the winner (Regulations III. 13 & 14). The draw for the qualifying rounds was held on 11 July 2024, 12:00 GMT (15:00 local time, UTC+3), at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.

##### Second round
#### Group stage

The draw for the group stage was held on 7 October 2024, 10:00 GMT (13:00 local time, UTC+3), in Cairo, Egypt. The 16 winners of the second round of qualifying rounds will be drawn into four groups of four. The teams were seeded by their performances in the CAF competitions for the previous five seasons (CAF 5-year ranking points shown next to every team). Each group will contain one team from each of Pot 1 and Pot 2, and two teams from Pot 3, and each team will be allocated to the positions in their group according to their pot.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | SSC | CSC | FCB | CSS |
| 1 | Simba | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 13 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| 2 | CS Constantine | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 6 | +6 | 12 | Advance to knockout stage | 2–1 | — | 4–0 | 3–0 |
| 3 | Bravos do Maquis | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 14 | −7 | 7 | | 1–1 | 3–2 | — | 3–2 |
| 4 | CS Sfaxien | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 10 | −3 | 3 | | 0–1 | 0–1 | 4–0 | — |

#### knockout stage

Each tie in the knockout phase will be played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that will score more goals on aggregate over the two legs will advance to the next round. If the aggregate score will be level, the away goals rule will be applied, i.e. the team that will score more goals away from home over the two legs will advance. If away goals will be also equal, then extra time will not be played and the winners will be decided by a penalty shoot-out (Regulations III. 26 & 27). The bracket was decided after the draw for the knockout stage, which was held on 20 February 2025, 17:00 AST (UTC+3) at the beIN Sports headquarters in Doha, Qatar.

##### Quarter-finals
## Squad information
### Appearances and goals

    As of 17 August 2024
| No. | Pos | Player | Nat | Ligue 1 | Ligue 1 | Ligue 1 | Algerian Cup | Algerian Cup | Algerian Cup | Confederation Cup | Confederation Cup | Confederation Cup | Total | Total | Total |
| No. | Pos | Player | Nat | App | St | G | App | St | G | App | St | G | App | St | G |
| Goalkeepers |
| 16 | GK | Zakaria Bouhalfaya | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | GK | Kheireddine Boussouf | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | GK | Abdelmalek Necir | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Defenders |
| 12 | RB | Oussama Meddahi | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | CB | Miloud Rebiaï | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | CB | Chamseddine Derradji | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | LB | Houari Baouche | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | CB | Chahine Bellaouel | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | CB | Achraf Boudrama | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | CB | Mélo Ndiaye | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | RB | Amir Belaili | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Midfielders |
| 18 | MF | Messala Merbah | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | Mohamed Benchaira | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | Brahim Dib | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | Abdennour Belhocini | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | AM | Feth-Allah Tahar | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | DM | Salifou Tapsoba | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Forwards |
| 9 | FW | Zakaria Benchaâ | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | FW | Dadi El Hocine Mouaki | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | FW | Tosin Omoyele | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | FW | Mounder Temine | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | FW | Amine Benmessabih | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | Axel Méyé | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | FW | Abdelkader Kaibou | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | Ahmed Khaldi | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | FW | Nkembe Enow | | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Last updated: 23 May 2024 Source: soccerway.com

### Goalscorers

    As of 8 December 2024
Includes all competitive matches.
| No. | Nat. | Player | Pos. | L1 | AC | CCC | TOTAL |
| 10 | | Brahim Dib | MF | 5 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| 9 | | Zakaria Benchaâ | FW | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| 22 | | Tosin Omoyele | FW | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 11 | | Mounder Temine | FW | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 7 | | Abdennour Belhocini | MF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 15 | | Feth-Allah Tahar | MF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 29 | | Achraf Boudrama | DF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | | Nkembe Enow | FW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Own Goals | Own Goals | Own Goals | Own Goals | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 12 | 0 | 10 | 22 |

### Clean sheets

    As of 17 August 2024
| | | | | | Clean sheets | Clean sheets | Clean sheets | Clean sheets |
| No. | Nat | Name | GP | GA | L 1 | AC | CCC | Total |
| 1 | | Kheireddine Boussouf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | | Zakaria Bouhalfaya | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| | | TOTALS | TOTALS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |